The present invention relates to vehicle accessories and particularly to structure for mounting an assist strap to the underlying sheet metal support of an automobile.
Vehicles such as automobiles frequently include assist straps, sometimes referred to as grabhandles, for assistance to the vehicle operator or passenger in ingress and egress from the vehicle. Such assist straps typically are located above the vehicle door such they can be grasped to help the vehicle occupant in raising themselves from the vehicle seat and exiting the door or alternatively supporting some of the occupant's weight as they are lowering themselves into the vehicle seat. There have been a variety of manners in which such assist straps have been mounted to vehicles. In the past, assist straps typically have included a metal strap covered by suitable padding and upholstery material with the ends of the strap configured with an aperture for receiving a fastening screw which secures the strap directly to an aperture within the vehicle sheet metal support structure. Such end structure typically includes a decorative covering for enclosing the fastener head once the strap has been installed. In recent years, assist straps have been preassembled as part of an integral headliner assembly with a variety of snap-in spring clip fasteners for attachment of the grabhandle to the headliner. Such arrangement typically still requires the utilization of a fastening screw for attaching the assist scrap to the spring clip during its preassembly to the vehicle headliner. Other approaches have incorporated the use of L-shaped configured ends of an assist strap with a bezel which fits into an aperture within the vehicle roof and a subsequent decorative bezel locks the assist strap into position once initially inserted into the vehicle roof.